Monday, November 4, 2013

Catching up. August, September and October.

I hate that! You are already stressing about being behind on blogging, thinking you've got 2 months to talk about when in fact, you have THREE! That's a whole quarter of a year that has gone by in an absolute blink. So here it is in a nutshell:

August: Our big news in August was sending Audrey and Madison to school. We went to "meet the teacher" and got to meet Ms. Cindy and Ms. Lisa and play with all the toys! They go once a week and Rusty and I pretend we only have 1 kid for a few hours! Haha. The first few drop offs were really hard for Madison (and mommy!). Now they both LOVE going to school and drop offs are painless. They ask about going to school and their teachers throughout the week :) To view our pictures, click here!

September: This month was pretty awesome considering we went on vacation! We booked our Disney cruise on our last one when I was 17 weeks pregnant with Elana! First, we spent 2 nights at the Lowes Royal Pacific hotel. We spent time at the parks and hung out by the pool. Then our 4 night Disney cruise was a dream! We were joined by my in-laws, dad, sister and cousins and their daughter. When we got home, it was time for my 10 year reunion. It was fun to catch up with old friends and people watch! You can see more pictures here.

October: This is a fun month for us! We did lots of things for Halloween this year! We started off with a trip to SeaWorld's Spooktacular. The kids didn't really "get" the trick or treating part but it was fun to see the exhibits and get the kids all dressed up!! Then of course we had to make the trip to the pumpkin patch. This was our 3rd year going and by far the most fun! The kids had a great time running around and picking out their pumpkins :) On the actual Halloween, I took the kids to my friend's neighborhood for trick or treating. Audrey was terrified by a little boy in our group dressed in a scary mask. Poor thing! But overall it was fun walking around in the dark collecting candy! Not to forget, our little Elana turned ONE this month. Mom hosted her party the weekend after the big day. On her actual birth-day we took her to Grammy's indoor playplace for a special treat! Pictures here.

As of my last entry, Audrey wasn't giving us much trouble in the scheme of things. Lately she has been a challenge! I think she and Madison are taking turns driving me crazy :) I try to remind myself that this is a phase that every kid goes through and has to go through to learn about the world. It's almost like you can see the wheels turning, "if I do this, what will happen? how much can I get away with?" So I try to be as consistent as possible with my disciple, trying to find that fine balance in parenthood where you get your child to behave without squashing their spirit. Most of the time, she wants things done in a certain way or in a certain order. Can't fault her for that...hehe. A little too much like her mother!! Anyway, lots of NOs and I DON'T WANT TOs happening around here but usually nothing a little time-out doesn't fix! Rusty and I always call her Dr. Jekyll/ Mr. Hyde because she can be raging one moment and sweet as pie the next! Overall she is a good girl and loves her mama. You can still find me carting her around in the Boba from time to time when she needs a little extra attention. It's a rare day that she naps but that's ok because she usually just plays and sings quietly in her room while Madison naps (or they play together and destroy..haha). We have had many special moments during the nap hour when Madison and Elana are napping and Audrey "helps" get dinner fixed or with some baking. She is becoming an independent little lady and never fails to bust out with something crazy/funny. Now I understand why people always say "kids say the darndest things!" ﻿

Madison, who had been our "difficult" child for a few months with the boundary testing has become the more mellow of the two. She goes with the flow most days and is helpful more often than not. When I need a "special helper" I always ask Madison. She is very good at following directions :) She always helps pick up the dirty clothes and put them in the hamper and is very good at picking up toys or putting those puzzles together that come with a million pieces. We have made amazing strides with the potty training. One week before the cruise, the girls decided they wanted to wear underwear. So we went with it, a little apprehensive just before vacation but they did GREAT! Madison was certainly the ring-leader in this situation and pushed Audrey into being ready. As of today, Madison only wears a pull-up at night. She pees and poops in the potty all day and even naps without accidents. We are SO proud of these two! One of the most precious thing she does right now is, just before I close the door at nap and bedtime she says, "Mommy, I love you SOO much!" It warms my heart!﻿

It's so hard to believe our sweet girl is one! She is truly a joy in our lives! Most of the time she is happy, easy going and self-entertaining. She likes to point and grunts at everything, wanting to know the words. She gets the biggest smile on her face and giggles over seemingly nothing. This age is so precious!! We even made it the full year of breastfeeding. I'm so happy and proud that she never had to have any formula and I had pumped not only enough milk for her, but also had stored a freezer full of milk and donated to 5 other babies! Now that she's one, she still nurses through the day but not as much. She's a busy little thing and doesn't like to be slowed down :) It is nice to get that special cuddle time. I'm not sure how long we'll go but I think I'll leave that up to her. One thing is for sure, she thinks she is a long lost triplet to Audrey and Madison. Anything they do, she tries to do! Whenever she does something she knows is a big girl thing she gets the biggest smile on her face. Always so pleased with herself! Her latest thing is being obsessed with shoes! She found the basket of shoes I keep in her dresser and will go there, choose a shoe (or two!) and bring it to me to put on her. Then she runs around the house looking so happy. Crazy little girl. She is such a blessing <3 p="">
Rusty: I can't imagine how he must feel living with 4 women (and a female dog!) but he does it well! He is a great daddy and is always helpful to me around the house. They have been very short at work lately so he's been doing some overtime trying to fill in. Overall he is happy with work and especially happy now that Halloween Horror nights is over :) In his "spare time" he likes to work on his mustang. hahahahaha. Oh I'm sorry....did I say something about spare time....

Shelby: I'm holding steady working one day a week (at my paid job!) I would like to work more but that time will come. For now I'm (mostly) enjoying being at home with my babies. The work is exhausting between keeping 3 kids under 3 happy, fed, clean, the house clean-ish, the dog fed, the laundry done, the checkbook balanced, the grocery shopping done, the projects completed, and the list goes on. October was incredibly busy and November is going to be even more so. There are some days I feel completely overwhelmed and over my head and other days not so much. Trying hard to focus on one day at a time. Every time I look at my girls they look older. I'm constantly criticizing the job I'm doing as their mother and hope with all my heart that I am giving them the happy childhood they deserve. There are days that they are so terribly whiney and irritable that I'm not sure I can make it though the day and other times that they are so incredibly sweet it fills my heart with happiness. I never imagined motherhood could be this way. Such a constant roller coaster ride of emotions. I am so blessed to be able to be home with them and watch them grow up. I wonder about the kind of children/teenagers/young women they will become. I guess only time will tell and for now, I'm going to try taking this one day at a time.
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